#Poser

by Cambria Hebert

  Really bad.

  “I think it’s time you leave,” I said. “I need to lock up.”

  “I want to buy this dress.” She held up the black fabric.

  “Sorry. Already closed out the register. Looks like you’ll have to come back.”

  “What do you think your boss would say if he knew you were turning down a sale?”

  “Her name is Monica. She’ll be in tomorrow at ten. Why don’t you ask her when you come back to buy that dress?”

  Missy’s mouth opened, then closed.

  I walked around the counter and took it out of her hands. “I sure hope it’s still here when you come back. This is the last one. I was admiring it myself earlier.”

  It was a total lie. My boobs would be falling out all over the place in that thing. If Missy were a true friend, she’d know that.

  Instead, she huffed. “Bitch.”

  I smiled sweetly. “Takes one to know one.” I went to the door and held it open. “Buh-bye now.”

  She stomped out onto the sidewalk and turned back. I saw the mean streak in her eyes and knew she was about to say something entirely hurtful. I slammed the door in her face and locked it.

  I turned my back and walked away, putting the gown behind the counter. I was tempted to take it home just so she couldn’t buy it tomorrow.

  My own deviousness impressed me, and I watched as her car sped down the street out of sight.

  That confrontation hadn’t been as hard as I anticipated, and it turned out I had a lot more to say to her than I thought.

  I went into the back and neatly stacked the signs I’d made and then moved a few boxes of inventory to the other side of the room. I was pulling on my coat when I heard a faint sound out front.

  I froze.

  I really needed to stop hearing and seeing things.

  This wasn’t some Stephen King movie.

  I wasn’t a virgin and the first to die.

  I wasn’t going to cower like a damsel in distress, so I snatched up my bag and held it before me like a weapon. Hey, it was heavy. I could totally take someone out if I needed to.

  “Yo, Ives!” Drew yelled. “Where you at?”

  I loosened the grip on my bag and slumped a little. I was totally glad it was my brother. “Hey!” I called and went out into the main room. “What are you doing here?”

  “Braeden asked me to meet you so you wouldn’t be alone locking up.”

  Of course he did. I couldn’t even be mad because it was totally sweet he thought of me enough to ask Drew to be here. “Where is B?” I wondered.

  “Dunno. Said he had somewhere to be and he’d call you soon.”

  I locked my arm around my brother’s and turned him toward the door. “C’mon, let’s go.”

  We made it two steps when I stopped. “Wait.”

  He looked at me.

  “How did you get in here?”

  He looked at me like I had three heads. “Uh, the front door.”

  “I locked it.”

  He frowned. “It was open when I got here.”

  “No. I locked it.”

  Seeing I was one hundred percent positive, he freed his arm and went to the door, pulled it open, and tested the lock several times. “Well, it doesn’t seem to be broken. Are you sure you locked it? Maybe you just thought you did.”

  “Maybe,” I echoed. I was tired, and I was anxious to get away from Missy.

  That reminded me of the dress. I was totally taking it home. I didn’t care if it was too small for me or not. Served her right. “I forgot something,” I said and hurried around the counter to where I’d left the dress.

  It was gone.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Braeden

  It was late when I finally walked in the house.

  Gizmo came rushing up to me, bouncing on her back legs and resting her front paws on my leg. I smiled, the first time since I’d gone to the hospital, and bent to scoop her up.

  “Hey, Giz.”

  She licked my face about a hundred times. Her fur was silky soft and her tail wagged about a mile a minute. Today, she was wearing a white T-shirt with pink trim and a pink rhinestone collar to match.

  After I scratched behind her ears for a few minutes, I put her down and she ran circles around my feet. I laughed and tried not to step on her as I went into the kitchen, where I saw a soft glow from the light above the sink.

  Ivy was sitting alone at the island, a bowl of ice cream in front of her, hair piled on top her head, and my name and number written across her back.

  Just the sight of her eased everything inside me.

  “Whatcha doin’?” I asked, coming up behind her and leaning down to rest my chin on her shoulder.

  “Drowning my sorrows in fat and calories.”

  “Uh-oh.” I lifted her and slid beneath her, fitting her right into my lap. I glanced in the bowl at the vanilla ice cream.

  “That needs sprinkles.”

  “You ate them all.”

  Unable to resist, I kissed the side of her neck. “What’s the matter, baby?”

  “I had a run-in with Missy.” Her voice was sour.

  “You give her hell?” I hugged her close.

  She made a sound and put the spoon in her mouth, pulling it out slowly. It was a terrible distraction from our conversation.

  “Where have you been?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

  “I went to see him.”

  The spoon clattered in the bowl, and she abandoned it completely. Ivy spun in my lap so we were face to face and her legs were wrapped around me. She leaned back a little, resting on the edge of the counter, and I tightened my hold on her waist a bit.

  “Tell me,” she demanded.

  I half smiled. “It sucked.”

  She nodded with sadness in her eyes. “I would have gone with you.”

  I shook my head. “It was something I needed to do alone.” Plus, I didn’t want her around him. I didn’t want his darkness to touch her.

  “He apologized?” she asked.

  “I told him I couldn’t forgive him.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He told me he was proud of me.” I met her eyes. “It felt good to hear.”

  She cupped my face in her hands and made a sound. “Of course it did. You’re only human, B. It’s okay to not like him, but at the same time want his approval.”

  I didn’t want it.

  But maybe deep down I did.

  Fuck, I was messed up.

  Ivy let go of my face and reached around behind her for the bowl. She scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and held it out.

  I opened my lips and the sweet, cold flavor slid down my throat. She fed me the rest of the bowl. Neither one of us said a word. I stared into her blue eyes, and occasionally she would kiss me between bites.

  I loved her.

  I loved her more than life itself.

  Coming home to her after seeing him was exactly what I needed.

  “Are you glad you went?” she asked when the bowl was empty and pushed to the side.

  I thought for long minutes and then nodded once. “Yeah.”

  It was good to close the door to that part of my life. It was good to know I said everything I wanted to say.

  “Wanna go have sex?” she whispered.

  My smile was fast. “Thought you’d never ask.”

  We left the bowl on the counter, and I carried her up the stairs. Her laughter was exactly what I needed. Her touch was what I wanted.

  As long as I had Ivy, everything else was just details.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Ivy

  I didn’t tell Braeden about the dress.

  About the noises I kept hearing and the night I thought I saw Zach.

  He had enough going on already, and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I wasn’t imagining things.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Braeden

  The pillow beneath my head was yanked away, and my eyes flung open as my
head hit the mattress. “What the fuck?” I yelled, my voice half asleep.

  “You’re turning into a woman,” Romeo taunted above me. “Laying in bed halfway through the morning.”

  I groaned and glanced at the clock beside the bed. “It’s six a.m., fucker.”

  “We got shit to do.”

  Beside me, Ivy groaned. “Make the bad man go away.”

  “You’re a bad influence,” Romeo told her fondly.

  “Tell me again why we got adjoining rooms in this hotel?” I muttered.

  “Rimmel!” Ivy yelled.

  “Whoa,” Romeo rushed out. “Don’t be waking up the beast.”

  I laughed.

  “I’m going to the field. I want to get some throws in, warm my arm up before the game later today.”

  His first starting game of his NFL career. We were all in town just to watch him play. He was probably hella excited. And maybe nervous. My eyes opened. “You want me to come?”

  “Does a boar have an asshole?”

  Ivy groaned again and pulled a pillow over her head.

  I shoved my face beneath it and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be at the field with Rome.”

  “Bye,” she murmured.

  I jumped out of bed and grabbed some sweatpants and a hoodie. It was probably colder than a witch’s tit outside, but I didn’t care. I got to throw some passes with my best friend, and I got to do it on a field where the Knights played.

  “You sure it’s okay we’re doing this?” I asked Rome on the way to the field.

  He nodded. “I don’t want to overdo it before the game, but I need to decompress a little, you know?”

  I knew. He had a lot riding on today. If he didn’t play well this season and show Ron Gamble he could be an asset on the field, his contract wasn’t going to be renewed next year.

  “Trainers meeting us there?” I asked.

  “Hells no. I wanted some time to play, not be instructed.”

  “Just me and you, then?” I rubbed my hands together. It had been a long time since me and Rome got to fire it up on the field.

  He offered his fist and we bumped it out.

  The field where the Knights practiced was a lot like Alpha U’s. I wasn’t a stranger to a football field, not even one that had money to keep it nice.

  But there was something majestic to me about an NFL field. Even if it was the place they just practiced. I loved this place in the early morning. It was quiet and open, filled with lots of possibilities and opportunities.

  The air was cold, and I lifted my hands to blow some hot breath on them as I gazed out over the green. Everything here was purple and orange instead of blue and gold.

  A football appeared in Rome’s hand, and he elbowed me. We looked at each other and then back out at the field.

  It felt like we were back in high school again, two kids with high hopes, when we laughed and rushed out into the center.

  We messed around for a long time, blowing off steam and throwing crazy passes to see who could catch them.

  I ran the ball some. It felt good to stretch my legs.

  Even as we goofed off, we were in sync. Romeo and I were always like that on the field. We played off each other, like we were connected.

  Maybe it was because off the field, we were.

  Eventually, the fun turned a little more serious, and I moved in so he could throw me some spirals. He was looking good; his arm had come a long way.

  “Okay, man,” he yelled down the field. “Let’s switch it up. I’m gonna throw with my left now.”

  I gave him the signal and moved in a little more, thinking his left arm was still a little weaker than his right. His throw was strong and straight. It hit me right in the chest when I caught the ball.

  “Da-yum!” I whistled. “You’ve still been practicing throwing with your left arm?”

  “Hells yeah,” he called. “I might be right handed, but I’ll never be in the position of not being able to use my left ever again.”

  I admired his attitude. When he broke his right arm, so many people thought his career was over before it had even started. What the hell good was a quarterback if he couldn’t throw the ball?

  But Romeo didn’t give up that easily. He became an ambidextrous quarterback and learned to throw as a lefty.

  I thought maybe now that his right arm was healing up nicely, he’d have focused more on it. I was wrong. I should have known he would make sure he never lost the lefty skill.

  We threw for a while longer, and then he moved in closer so we were in talking instead of yelling distance.

  “You called him?” he said, like he knew.

  “How’d you know?”

  “You seem lighter.”

  “I went to see him. He’s in the hospital.”

  Romeo paused. “He in bad shape?”

  I nodded.

  Romeo threw the ball, and I caught it.

  “I told him I wouldn’t forgive him.”

  “He don’t deserve it.”

  “I know.” I threw the ball back.

  “You okay, man?” he asked, giving up on throwing all together and walking toward me.

  “Yeah,” I said, wiping the sweat off my forehead. “Yeah, I am.”

  He nodded. He was wearing a purple Knights hoodie and a pair of black Nike workout pants. His hair was messy and damp around the ears, but he didn’t look tired.

  “Purple’s a good color on you,” I teased. “Doesn’t look girly at all.”

  He laughed.

  We glanced across the field at the sidelines where Ivy and Rimmel sat. They showed up not too long ago, carrying big coffees and still looking half asleep.

  We’d been out here for a couple hours, so it wasn’t like it was still the butt crack of dawn.

  Ivy saw us looking and waved. I waved back.

  “How’s things at home?” Romeo asked.

  I shook my head. “You know, man. It’s hard.”

  His face turned serious and his body shifted toward mine.

  “I got this stain on my favorite shirt and no matter what I try, I can’t get it out.”

  Romeo shoved me.

  “Being an adult is hard!” I cackled.

  “If I didn’t have to play today, I’d tackle your smart ass right now.” He laughed.

  I turned serious. “You nervous?”

  He nodded like he was confiding a secret.

  “You got this, Rome. You’re ready. It’s gonna be fucking awesome.”

  “Thanks for being here.”

  “Shit,” I drawled. “Did you really think I’d miss your NFL debut?”

  Romeo started to say something, then stopped. He looked back at the girls and made a sound. I followed his stare and saw Ron Gamble standing there smiling and talking with Ivy and Rim.

  “What’s he doing here?” I asked.

  Romeo shrugged. “He owns the place.”

  “He gonna be pissed I’m out here playing on his turf?”

  “Nah.” Romeo slapped me on the shoulder. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

  We jogged over to where the group stood.

  “Mr. Gamble,” Romeo began and held out his hand for a shake. “Looking forward to starting in today’s game.”

  Gamble smiled. “I like a man who gets up early and gets prepared.”

  “Just want to make sure I’m ready to play,” Romeo replied.

  “You’re ready,” Rimmel interjected. “He’s going to be amazing.”

  “I like your confidence, young lady,” Gamble said to Rimmel, fondness in his tone. Clearly, the dude liked her.

  Then his eyes turned to me. “You’re a pretty good player yourself.”

  I stood up a little straighter. “Thank you, sir. We were just playing around. I was helping Rome get warmed up.”

  “You two play well together. Like a well-oiled machine.”

  “Well, we’ve been doing it for a long time,” I replied.

  Gamble nodded. “You play for the Wolves, don’t you?”
/>
  “Yes, sir.”

  “He’s a free agent,” Romeo put in. “He’s been kicking ass on the field this season.”

  “Totally.” Ivy agreed.

  Gamble chuckled. “Quite the cheering squad you got here.”

  I shrugged. “They’re family.”

  “Family is important,” he mused. “Romeo, good luck today. I’ll be watching from my box.” He started to turn away but then looked back and offered me his hand. “Good to meet you, number thirteen. Maybe we’ll meet again.”

  He knows my number?

  “I’m sure we will,” I said. “I plan on being here as much as I can to support Rome.”

  “Loyalty is a good quality,” Gamble said, and then he walked away.

  When he was gone, Rome looked at me, speculation in his eye. I just shook my head.

  “Come on,” I said to everyone. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”

  After we ate, Romeo went off to get ready for the game, and I hung with Rim and Ivy. Mostly, I just watched TV. Ivy was busy fussing over what Rimmel was wearing and then what she was gonna wear.

  It was a football game, not a fashion show. But I didn’t tell them otherwise.

  Before it started, we filed into the seats Rimmel got us, and I watched the stands fill to capacity. I knew there was a lot of press there. I knew this game was getting a lot of media coverage, but I didn’t care.

  I was here for the game and to watch my best friend play.

  And play he fucking did.

  He smoked that football, and the crowd went nuts. He played the entire first half of the game, throwing a shit ton of completed passes and four touchdowns.

  They pulled him out at halftime, and I knew it was because they were afraid to push his arm. But it was cool. He had his moment in the sun, and he proved to everyone he deserved his Comeback Quarterback status. I could tell by the blinding bright smile on his face when he looked up in the stands and waved that he knew it too. Gone was the worry that his contract wouldn’t be renewed.

  It was a damn fine day in football.

  It was a damn fine start to Thanksgiving break.

  I couldn’t wait to see what else vacation was going to bring.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven